Signal attachment for film reels



N. POWER. SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR FILM REELS.

, APPLICAT|O N FILE'D DEC.9, 1916- RENEWED MAR. 30, 1921- 1,407,083.

Patented Feb. 2], 1922.

- ATTORNEYS U ITED sm'rlas ATENT. OFFICE.

,mcnonas'rownn, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, essrenon '10 nrcnoms rowiin comrm, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A oonromrron or DELAWARE.

SIGNAL n'rrncnmnirr FOR FILM anus.

Application filed. December 9, 1916, Serial No. 135,953. Renewed March 30, 1921. Serial No. 457,053.

moving picture machines, and has for its object to provide a signal device for indicating the failure of the lower reel to take up the film as fed from the machine as sometimes occurs in the Operation of the machine through breakage of the film or an accident to the driving mechanism of the reel. In my I Patent No. 1,208,647, granted December12,

1916, I have illustrated a mechanism for this purpose which I have found satisfactory in ractice with machines of a certain type. he'apparatus of my patent effects its signal upon the rotation of the reel at anincreased speed which ordinarily takes place as ex- 1 pl ained in the patent when the film breaks or the load is otherwise removed. In case, however, the accident should be such as not to produce an increased speed of the reel shaft, the signal mechanism of this patent would not operate. I

The apparatus of my present application is designed to sound the signal upon any slackening of the normal tension of the film,

regardless of the speed of operation of the.

reel shaft, so that a failure of the mechanism from any cause will effect a positive warning. 3 1 y In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the device of simple construction designed not to interfere with any of the working parts of the machine and adapted for attachment to machines now in use at small cost.

In said drawings,

Fig. 1 is anelevational view of the lower magazine of a moving picture machine of a well known ty e, with my improved signal device attache Fig. 2 is a detail view largely: in section at right angles to Fig. 1.

dicates the lower reel shaft which is rotatably supported in the frame of the machine and projects into the ma azine at the center thereof to receive the me 2 upon which the film 3 is wound as it is received from the machine.

he shaft 1 is usually driven ill 111261111165 of this character through a friction drive Patented renal, 1922.

in order that its speed of rotation may ac- I commodate itself to the increasing diameter of the reel of film on the reel. Inthe drawings I have shown one type of friction drive purpose.

ed for rotation on the reel shaft and yieldingly pressed against the fixed disk by a spiral spring 7 surrounding the shaft between tlfiefilllb of disk 6 and the collar 8 of the s a ,which has been found satisfactory for the The friction drive comprises a fixed clutch disk. 5 attached to' the reel shaft and a complementary friction disk 6 mount A portion of the'periphery of the disk 6 is formed with sprocket teeth whereby the friction disk 6 is. continuously driven by means of a chain 9 working on a sprocket 10 on one of the shafts of the projecting machine 11.

The film is fed into the magazine through a suitable guide or magazine valve in the upper wall of the magazine beneath the machine, and near one-corner of the magazine. Between the magazine valve and the reel, and toward the edge of the bell crank 13 loosely mounted on the sup-' porting frame of the machine adjacent the reel shaft. a

Attached to the other arm of the bell crank is a spring pawl 14: whose free end projects over a disk or ring 16 attached to the friction disk 6 which is driven from the projecting machine. The ring 16 is provided at intervals with ratchet teeth 17 with their abrupt faces on the side away from the direction of rotation, so that the teeth in passing under a pawl will leave the pawl and then let it snap abruptly off the point of the tooth. When the film is taut between the magazine valve and the reel, the guide roller 12 will be held at the upper inner end of its slot, in which position the pro ect ng pawl'is clear of the periphery of the disk. When, however, the filmbecomes slack, either through breaking of the film or failure of the driving mechanism, the rock arm 13 will drop and the pawl-carr mg arm will be swung toward the reel sha t into position for the end of the pawl to be engaged by the teeth on the disk 16 which is continuously driven from the driving chain .9. The passage of the teeth under the pawl will alternately raise the arm and allow it to drop abruptly, causing the axle of the guide roller to vibrate back and forth in the slotin the magazine wall and produce a signal sufficiently loud to be readily-heard by the operator near the machine. The signal will take place as soon as-the film becomes sufficiently slack for the guide roller to move the slight distance permitted by its slot, and the operator can therefore correct the trouble before any appreciable amount of film is accumulated.

As soon as the tensionv on the film is restored, the pawl will be lifted out of contact with the ratchet disk. The unbalanced weight of the arm 13 is slight and does not add appreciably to the tension on the film. A light spring may be used if desired to press the free end of the arm toward the lower end of the slot and thus add to the force of the contact with the end of the slot when the arm is vibrated by the cam.

It will be observed that the apparatus is exceedingly simple and may be applied to existing machines by merely cutting a slot in the magazine wall to accommodate the spindle of the guide roller and providing a suitable fulcrum for-the arm 13 of the machine. Also, of course, attaching to the disk 6 the ratchet ring or disk 16.

The signal is positive under all conditions liable to affect the operation of the machine, and gives a-distinctive signal which re-occurs at frequent intervals until the damage is corrected.

Other modifications may also be made in the device without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a mechanism of the class described,

. the combination of a winding reel, a signal ratus, a receiving mechanism having a part driven from the dr ving mechanism of said winding reel, a gulde for the film or web to be wound on said reel, said guide being supported so as to tend to move in .one direction against the tension of the film or web and connections between said guide and signal mechanism for causing the latter to be actuated by the said dr ven part when the tension of the film or web is so reduced. as to permit said guide to move.

2. In a motion picture. projecting appamounted for rotation in said magazine, a dr ving mechanism for said reel without sa d magazine,- a signal device operated by sa1d driving mechanism, and means for effecting the operation of said signal mechanism comprising a film-engaged part within said magazine and connections between sald part and said signal mechanism, wheremagazine forthe film reel by variations in tension of the film within the magazine cause said signal mechanism to be actuated.

3. In a motion picture projecting machine, the combination of a receiving maga zine for the film, a reel-supporting shaft in the magazine, means for rotating said shaft from without the magazine, a signal device operated by said driving means, and means for causing the actuation of said signal device comprising a guide roller mounted in said magazine for a limited movement and having its shaft projecting through an aperture in the wall of said magazine, said roller being normally held during the operation of the machine in its extreme position away from said reel, and connections between the shaft of said roller and said signal mechanism whereby movement of said roller toward said magazine causes the actuation of said signal device.

4. In a motion picture projecting 'machine, the combination of a receiving magazine for the film, a reel-supporting shaft for the magazine, means for rotating said shaft from without the magazine, a signal device com-prising a notched member continuously rotated by said driving mechanism and a sounding member mounted for movement into and out of the path of'movement of the notches of said notched member, and means for causing the actuation of said signal device comprising a guide roller mounted in said magazine for a limited movement and having its shaft projecting through an aperture in the wall of said magazine, said roller being held normally during the operation of the machine in its extreme position away from the said reel support, and connections between the shaft of said roller and said signal mechanism whereby movement of said roller toward said reel support moves said sounding member toward said notched member.

5. In a mechanism of the kind described, a receiving magazine for the film, a winding reel therein, a guide roller fbr the film within the magazine, said magazine havin a slot in its wall through which the axis 0 said roller projects, a movable support for said roller adapted to lie of its own weight in a position to entrain the roller away from the direct path of the film to the reel, a cam carried by the driving shaft of the reel and adapted to engage said movable support when in its above described position and vibrate said roller in its slot, said slot being of a length such that the pull of the film under the normal winding tension will maintain said support out of contact with the cam.

Signed at New York c't in the county of New York, and State of N ew York, this 6th day of December, 1916. v 7 NICHOLAS POWER. 

